My guess is that he had the parts to begin with, but as a modern 18 y/o (I know this doesn't apply to all, but the majority), he didn't want to take the time to actually learn how to ship the thing, and, having spent the money, figured 'What the hell?'
Sorry to see you get touched that way.
After sorting through the inanities in the thread, there were a couple of pretty good ideas. I, for one, would be glad to check out people or parts in my area for any persons that might be in a similar predicament.